This song turned up in an Easter liturgy belonging to a commenter to this blog. It is by Steve Merkel but I gather Michael W Smith may have popularised it.
The chorus is a Kyrie that the assembly could sing but the verses are for a soloist. While I can see the relevance for prodigal son readings and Lent, it it is too “I” and not enough “we” for me from a liturgical perspective.
The text is here and the sheet music is available at several sites on the net including jwpepper.
I have already blogged “In the Light” because it is one of the few WLP songs that were used in AOV:NG.
The next song in Voices As One therefore is a restrained song from Ed Bolduc that really needs the counter-melodies to function. It is a sort of chant that would work in Advent or Lent.
The text is in the sample at WLP where you can hear a snippet and purchase the sheet music.
I put some of the counter melodies in but it is written for SATB.
This is a communion song by Kevin Keil and Robert H Frenzel that I noticed one of the parishes doing over Easter.
The tune borrows quite a lot from “The Water is Wide”.
The text is here (page 15) and the sheet music can be purchased from OCP, where you can listen to a snippet.
These people noted the similarity too:
Marcy Weckler has written a lovely shepherd song to use if you are sick of “Shepherd Me O God” etc. It is also good for funerals. The verses start out the same but the second one goes off on a tangent so be on the lookout. VAO for guitar has SATB for the refrain.
The text is in the sample at WLP where you can her a snippet and purchase the sheet music for download.
This is another song that was done at the parish of one of my correspondents over Easter. It is by Ray Repp and goes back to the folk mass era but is pleasant and singable. It is in the voice of God, which is out of fashion, but I love this sort of folk music so I’m happy to see it still in use.
The text is here and it can purchased as part of a collection at sheetmusicplus.
My backing gets to use a hint of uke with the folk guitars:
21/3/2025
I accidentally made another backing to this song:
The music liturgy team has come up with these selections for this week:
Entrance: Sing to the Mountains (Dufford) AOV 1/92
Psalm 4 ( O’Brien)
Lord, let your face shine on us.
Gifts: A Trusting Psalm (Bates) AOV 1/115
Communion: Table Song (Haas) from “Table Song”
Seed Scattered and Sown (Feiten) GA 195
Thanksgiving: Sing a New Song (Schutte) AOV 1/80
Recessional: Jesus is Risen (O’Brien- Ogilvie) AOV NG 82
This is a fine communion song by Paul A Tate. There is a key change going into the third verse to look out for.
The text is here. You can purchase the sheet music at WLP.
This is a nice version, where the key change is avoided.
This version has extra vocal lines and the key change:
I was lucky enough to be staying within walking distance of a Catholic church while away over Easter. For many years I have played for the Tridium locally and experienced the exhausted joy of the resurrection with which most parish musicians are familiar. Being away from home for Easter felt odd enough in itself and circumstances dictated that Easter Sunday morning was the only Mass we could attend. I am grateful that Mass was available.
The priest was in his mid eighties yet proclaimed the gospel well and was acceptedly rambling in his homily for his age. The music was something else though. My wife thought she’d gone through a time warp to the church of the sixties and early seventies. The music was from their own version of the Living Worship Hymnal – the “blue book” and was played by a youngish organist. The assembly was a mixture of all ages. The singing, apart from the priest, was desultory. I have been to masses with really old hymns in areas of retirement concentration and there at least the old songs were sung enthusiastically, but here not so much. The Gloria was recited and there was an indistinct mass setting of some sort for the other parts of the mass although several tunes seemed to be being used simultaneously. To their credit the Our Father was chanted and everyone seemed to know that.
The experience was not joyful. I’m sure I’ve played at masses where the music wasn’t the best but wouldn’t Easter at least be a time to pull out the stops.
The last fifty years seemed to have passed this parish by musically. I suppose we all can get into a rut of what feels comfortable, but I can only assume this parish has become a musical ghetto for some reason. Perhaps we liturgical musicians need to network more to find out if what we are doing really is leading to participation by the assembly.
…and even with a priest keen to continue well past retirement age, it is sad that the talent pool for priests is so small that aged priests don’t get help and dire priests ( I don’t mean this gentleman) are pressed into service because there are no other options. Bishop Morris had some good ideas about this.
As far as I can recall the music was:
Take Our Bread (Wise)
An instrumental version of Strong and Constant (Andersen)
Christ Be Beside Me (tune: Morning Has Broken)
Soul of My Saviour (trad, Maher)
I continue to be educated about the songs out there by people putting up their music lists for liturgy.
This is Marty Haugen’s foot washing song. There are plenty of verses and a counter melody in the the refrain if you want to use it, but it might be better to keep it very simple.
The text is here (scroll down) and the sheet music can be purchased at GIA.
This is Ed Bolduc’s delightful setting of Psalm 95. There is a descant in the refrain if desired and the verse is a conversation between the cantor and choir, but that said it would be fine for the assembly to do the verse on their own.
The text is in the sample at WLP where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
